governor romney has momentum. moved ahead of the president by a smidgen in the national polls. caught up or gained ground in several key battleground states, ohio, virginia, florida, colorado, and a built of a breeze at his back and republicans think they have momentum. in this debate, americans pick presidents, not vice-presidents. not to downplay the stakes, but the presidential debates are more important. if joe biden can turn a strong performance maybe halt the republican momentum. if paul ryan can, republicans keep the momentum going into next week. >> john, playing sound bites leading into a lot of these debates. one that gets played over and over has been the famous sound bite where dan quayle essentially got his clock cleared. i knew jack kennedy and you're not jack kennedy, but that turned well for mr. quayle. >> he became the vice president of the united states. didn't he? a not so strong debate performance. overshadowed, out-debated by the elder lloyd benson back in 1988. i remember it well. my first president's campaign. and yet george h.w. bush went on to win the e